[Barry_R]

So far...

The plug color does not mean a lot for mixture reading unless the engine was cut clean after a pull or pass down the track. But that one cylinder being bone white compared to the others would indicate that it was not "live" - you should have been able to hear/feel that, but its not always easy if you are not familiar with these things. It would have shown up on the EGT trace on my dyno - and is almost always a bad/damaged/loose spark plug or plug wire. Could be from shipping, or installation, or plain old bad luck - but not incriminating.

Pushrod rub is not as big of a deal as folks think as long as they do not get pushed out of position in the cup or seat. I once had some that I was working on eliminating and Kaase told me not to do it. Said it was like putting your finger on a tuning fork - took the harmonics out of the system. I think Manton specifies +/-.010 from a flat & smooth surface being acceptable - and trust me they move during operation. I would prefer not to have contact, but so far I am not seeing anything that would cause me to loose any sleep.